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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 26, 1960)
o o O o Pagw 1-12 Hospital Administrators Are Faced With Realistic Problem Socman B Medford Tribune MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1960 O "in y (Editor's note: This is an other in the series of ar ticles in which iinancial problems and some of the main services provided by hospitals is discussed. The series was prepared in co operation with local hospi tal administrators.) "How can we continue to raise our standards and keep pace with present medical ad vances without a correspond ing income?" This is the question faced by hospital administrators, ac cording to Sister Luke of the Savior, who is Sacred Heart hospital administrator. "We are being unrealistic when we think medical care or hospital services will be come less complex Instead of more complex as medical progress continues," she said. The constant demands of medical staffs for greater out lays by hospitals for capital construction, new equipment and more trained personnel to keep pace with medical prog ress are a familiar story in virtually ail hospitals, regard less of size or location, sur veys indicate. Behind Medicine The administrator of .one of the leading hospitals in metropolitan area recently commented that he believed his hospital to be farther be hind medicine today than it was 10 years ago. In other words, the gap between what the hospital is doing and what It should be doing to enable the public to take advantage of scientific developments is growing wider instead of nar rower. Possibly the biggest prob lem is in personnel. How, with the nation-wide acute shortage of qualified hospital personnel, and with the pay roll figure reaching ever high er, are hospitals to meet the challenge? In this locality, payroll takes nearly 70 per cent of the income, hospital officials reported. Most hospitals try to hold this part of the hospi tal income to 65 per cent, but few succeed. Balancing personnel against patients census is not as sim pic as it might appear at first sight. In all fairness to em. ployees, a hospital should, as far as possible, insure steady employment practices, even at the expense of financial loss to the hospital. Hence, while the number of patients may vary, expenses, and particu larly the payroll, continue un disturbed. Judicious Allocation "A judicious allocation of work for our personnel, to gether with prudent mainte nance of same, is a must," Sister Luke noted. "For, while the objective of the hospital is first and foremost to render the best feasible patient care, its second objective is to do this in the most efficient and economical manner possible. Pressures against higher hos pital costs by a public unac quainted with the problems faced by administrators, are threatening to move the sec ondary objective into first place. This would result in deterioration of the best hos pital system in the world.' Hospitals are constantly at tacked from all sides to hold down costs. Insurance com panies, labor unions, self appointed spokesmen for the public, all imply that hospi tals could clamp a lid on costs if they so desired. The fact that costs have continued to rise in the face of this pres sure is a tribute to hospital administrators and governing authorities. They continue to put the patient's welfare and the hospital's responsibility to the doctor, patient, em ployee and public, ahead of the dollar sign, Sister Luke noted. Majority Married Difficulty is obtaining a sufficient number of nurses is one of the main brow- wrinklers among hospitals employment problems. Al though Sacred Heart and the other area hospitals are pay ing better than average basic salaries to their nurses, it is difficult to attract them to the Rogue valley especially so far from metropolitan areas. "The large majority of our nurses are married. Naturally, their first responsibility is to their family, a principle we respect and would not wish to r k x. Al IMS' , t-Kei' w mm r fKSL - V Vlv Y LAUNCHING HELPED There's only one time in her life that a tuRboat can get a snootful of champagne, so this tug refused to budge from the ways when she was launched without a bottle. When the cables 3 xr ' TALK ISN'T CHEAP j BOSTON FIRE RECORDS South Burlington. Vt-HTIUj Boston -HPH- C i t y records I Talk isn't cheap in this town show that during 1836 a total og 3.500. Court reporter Her- i of 208 fire alarms were sound man Vesper charged the town ( ed in Boston. Seventy were $9t3 20 or taking the min-1 false alarms and 44 fires were ules of the town meeting. of incendiary origin. THIRD PARTY Brattleboro, Vt. 1'PP Mrs. Janice Alcorn. 22, was lined $25 for assaulting her grand mother after she got into an argument with her brother over the use of his guitar. Tillia says: "GREEN GRASS MAKES ' ? TILLAMOOK BETTER! Cook with Tillamook , . its' old-time cheese flavor never : melts away. Year'round green pastures make this NATURAL Cheddar cheese your best source of NATURAL NUTRITION, tool" were cut the tug Mikimiki refused to move down the greased skids at the Albina ship works and it took workmen a half hour to push her free. tUri Telepholo) DISH .1 Iha UONIH , 1 Tillamook ! Natural Cheddar Cheese ., TWO AGIS- Available n Many Packaftm MEDIUM -m.U but walMUva'.) SHARP -waMati lot. af flavor lillamoak Caunly Oaacnary Aitattatiaii, Tilliok, Org.at C. gralad Tillamook 1 l-ot. cant torlillat 1 bunch choppad gram onion J 300 rt tM? m corn Dip lodillJt in tcldrd milti (a unroll. Arrango on baking thaat in 4 to 6 itatka, altar nating chili, onion, anal Tilla mook, lopping ah layor with choata. Baka at 400" aboa 20 min. Sarvaa 4 to 6. iv... jm. Km I&pMMS women-in-white PPJlA easy-care uniforms 1 Jl r v)lX Wash a wear cottons, embossed J I5.' Macron polyester fibers, opaque Ji"' nylon taffetas, in uniforms for busy li' women on-tbe-job who must look I' rf J smart, neat and trim every hour. I ft v Individual sibling -in all white. J VV U t:2lybi'U Sizes 8 to 20 and 14 to 24H. i - L88 . SEARS alter in any way," Sister Luke said. However, this presents a definite problem. A married nurse must accommodate her working hours to the best in terests of her family. This ap plies to days, hours and shifts. She must see that working outside the home does not conflict with the household program, she said. 'A nurse may be positively opposed to working in a des ignated department; the oper ating rooms, let us say, where the need may be urgent, but she may have neither inclina tion nor technical ability for that type of work," Sister Luke continued. "Others may choose to work on specific days, perhaps two or three days a w e e k and no more. Some may not consider week end work. The same may be said of any other employee. Although we sincerely appre ciate that help is given hospi tals in their personnel crisis, the shortage of well-trained hospital personnel continues to be a real problem." School for Training why not conduct a school for training nurses to Insure a liberal supply? some have asked. Sacred Heart hospital has conducted such a school and many graduated from it. Some of these nurses still ren der services to this area ' . Sacred. Heart -school, like five other . smaller schools conducted in conjunction with hospitals of the Sisters of Providence, had to close be cause of its inability to meet the increasing requirements for schools of nursing. Another staffing problem, although not critical now, is that of orderlies and male nurses. Attempts are being made to induce young men graduating from several of the all male schools of nurs ing in the east, to move west where employment is plenti ful and where living condi tions are attractive. Such male nurses would be offered such opportunities as admin istrative positions in west coast hospitals. Hospital administration is an exacting art and a science. It comprises not only medical services, but a medley of know-how in hotel operations from housekeeping to engineering. A number of universities have already added hospital administration courses to their curriculum, so greater basic knowledge and science will prevail in the hospital management of tomorrow. Hospitals are alert to find a means to meet the challenge of how to operate most effec tively and economically, while keeping pace .with ad vances in the medical field, and safeguarding the best in terests of the public it serves. EDITOR DIES Utica, N.Y. - dlPIl - Paul B. Williams. 72, editor of the Utica Daily Press fot- 33 years, died Monday. 4,000 Restaurants Prove it Every Day "Satisfaction guaranteed or your movtj back Ml I. Jadcaan-S S-Mal HI! f AftKINQ - Oom Manday Pnoay fJ - tittJB Boyd's Flavor Stands Up! 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